RT Journal Article
T1 The role of climate change in the widespread mortality of Holm oak in open woodlands of Southwestern Spain
A1 Natalini, Fabio
A1 Alejano Monge, Reyes
A1 Vázquez Piqué, Javier
A1 Cañellas, Isabel
A1 Gea Izquierdo, Guillermo
AB Forest decline and increasing tree mortality are of global concern and the identification of the causes is necessary todevelop preventive measures. Global warming is an emerging factor responsible for the increasing tree mortality indrought-prone ecosystems. In the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean holm oak open woodlands currentlyundergo large-scale population-level tree die-off. In this region, temperature and aridity have increased during recentdecades, but the possible role of climate change in the current oak mortality has not been investigated.To assess the role of climate change in oak die-off in managed open woodlands in southwestern Spain, we analyzedclimate change-related signals in century-long tree ring chronologies of dead holm oaks. We examined the high/lowfrequencyvariability in growth and the relationship between growth and climate.Similar to other Mediterranean forests, growth was favored by precipitation from autumn of the year prior to ringformation to spring of the year of ring formation, whereas high temperatures during spring limited growth. Since the1970s, the intensity of the high-frequency response to water availability increased simultaneously with temperature andaridity. The growth trends matched those of climatic changes. Growth suppressions occurred during droughts in the1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Widespread stand-level, age-independent mortality occurred since 2005 and affected trees thatcan not be considered old for the species standards.The close relationship between growth and climate indicate that climate change strongly controlled the growth patterns.This suggests that harsher climatic conditions, especially increased aridity, affected the tree performance and could haveplayed a significant role in the mortality process. Climate change may have exacerbated or predisposed trees to theimpact of other factors (e.g. intense management and pathogens). These observations could suggest a similar futureincrease in oak mortality which may occur in more northern oak open woodlands if aridity further increases.
PB Elsevier
SN 1125-7865
SN 1612-0051 (electrónico)
YR 2016
FD 2016-06
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/12352
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/12352
LA eng
NO Natalini, F., Alejano Monge, R., Vázquez Piqué, J., Cañellas, I., Gea Izquierdo, G.: "The role of climate change in the widespread mortality of holm oak in open woodlands of Southwestern Spain". Dendrochronologia. Vol. 38, págs. 51-60, (2016). DOI 10.1016/j.dendro.2016.03.003
NO This study was supported by the Department of Innovation, Science and Business of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Spain (project ref: P07RNM02688), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the European Union (FEDER funds), the Spanish National Agriculture Research Institute (project ref: RTA2013-00011-C02-02), and the International Campus of Excellence for Environment, Biodiversity and Global Change (CeiCambio). FN thanks E. Garriga (CIFOR-INIA) and D. Martin Perez for help with sample collection and processing. The authors acknowledge the Environmental Council in Huelva and the staff of the Department for Environment of the Government of Andalusia for their assistance in locating study sites. Ulf Buntgen (WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland) provided useful suggestions to improve a previous version of the manuscript.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026